byegad
Legendary Member
- Location
- NE England
I'd suggest that you're right Starhawk in that you can press more than your weight on a bent, but if you do so on a regular basis your knees will suffer in the long run. I have an Arthritic knee, not due to riding recumbents as it was going that way before I bought my first back in 2005, and I find spinning rather than mashing, where available gears make that possible, is not only nearly as fast, but much kinder to my knee.
I only mash on hills where I've got down into bottom gear, variously 12", 14" or 15" depending on the trike, and cannot maintain a spin, then I only mash for as short a time as I can, so if a hill eases I remain in bottom gear and pick up cadence, to save my knee. Bents are a bit slower up hills, for most people, and it's down to extra weight of the bent over a DF more than any inherent 'disadvantage' of the riding position. After all Bent riding positions are far more varied than DF ones.
I did take a while to recondition my legs for bent's and it was the top of my thighs, as seated on the bent that ached for a hundred miles or so after every ride. After that it took me about 1000 miles to be as fast on my heavy AZUB-4 as on my lighter, but no light weight, Thorn Club Tour. I was in my mid 50s when I converted to bents and rode both DFs and bents for two and a half years before ditching DFs altogether. Had I converted in my mid 20s I would no doubt have noticed the difference, which I put down to using slightly different muscle groups, less or not at all.
Would I go back to a DF? No chance!
I only mash on hills where I've got down into bottom gear, variously 12", 14" or 15" depending on the trike, and cannot maintain a spin, then I only mash for as short a time as I can, so if a hill eases I remain in bottom gear and pick up cadence, to save my knee. Bents are a bit slower up hills, for most people, and it's down to extra weight of the bent over a DF more than any inherent 'disadvantage' of the riding position. After all Bent riding positions are far more varied than DF ones.
I did take a while to recondition my legs for bent's and it was the top of my thighs, as seated on the bent that ached for a hundred miles or so after every ride. After that it took me about 1000 miles to be as fast on my heavy AZUB-4 as on my lighter, but no light weight, Thorn Club Tour. I was in my mid 50s when I converted to bents and rode both DFs and bents for two and a half years before ditching DFs altogether. Had I converted in my mid 20s I would no doubt have noticed the difference, which I put down to using slightly different muscle groups, less or not at all.
Would I go back to a DF? No chance!
